The Course Proposal Forms for Fall 2025 courses (including new First-Year Writing Seminars) are due Friday, September 27. (Please see the FYWS guidelines below.) If you taught a First Year Seminar (FYS), prior to 2020, you will need to submit a course revision and address the four questions below to transition the course to a FYWS. At the first faculty meeting of the year, both Jen Scanlon and Dallas Denery discussed the enormous labor constraints in the Registrar’s Office given the ongoing Workday Student implementation. In keeping with their remarks, I ask that faculty only propose new FYWS if they do not already have one in the catalog. If you already have one (or more) in the catalog, we ask that you teach those for the Fall 2025 semester.
Teaching a FYWS is an opportunity to engage with up to sixteen first-year students during their first semester at Bowdoin and facilitate their development as critical thinkers, writers, communicators, college students, and community members. The focus of all FYWS is on engaging intellectual work, using evidence-based arguments within a particular field of study. All FYWS emphasize writing as a process, collaboration with a research librarian to learn critical literacy skills, academic integrity, and building skills that will help students throughout their college careers and beyond. Bowdoin seniors often recall their FYWS as one of their favorite classes. For your reference, I have attached the FYWS that are being taught this fall.
John Paul Kanwit is available to meet with one-on-one to discuss the FYWS proposal or your ideas for a FYWS. You can use my bookings link to find a time to meet or email him to set up an in- person or Zoom call. Consultations are not required to submit a proposal.
In the course proposal form, you will be prompted to answer four questions, which are:
- What kinds of writing assignments do you plan to do in class? Share the types and length of assignments that you are considering in the course.
- What strategies will you use to engage with students in the writing and revision process? Will students compile a portfolio, share drafts with you or classmates, or have opportunities to revise graded assignments?
- How do you plan to work with information resources? Will your class visit the library, invite a librarian to your class, or will you integrate this information into the course?
- In what ways will you engage students in thinking about academic integrity? You may consider asking students to sign a code of ethics, guiding discussions around ethics in your field, and teaching citation expectations and guidelines.
FYWS Guidelines
Course Content
- First-year Writing Seminars balance significant intellectual work with instruction in writing as a process, introducing first-year College students to a range of modes of writing while instructing students how to make evidence-based arguments.
- The FYWS address broader questions and topics emerging from a field of study even when they focus on narrowly defined texts, archives, critical problems, and practices.
Emphasis on Writing as a Process
- Seminars will devote significant attention to writing processes, revision strategies and critical reading skills.
- First-year Writing Seminars require at least 4 writing assignments, distributed evenly over the semester. Seminars will build opportunities for drafting and revising essays into the course structure.
- Writing studies research suggests that faculty should meet with students outside of class to discuss essay assignments.
- In order to ensure that students receive timely feedback on their writing early in the semester, faculty must return a graded assignment with feedback by the end of the fourth week. Instructors will provide detailed comments on content as well as on matters of structure, grammar, and style.
Introduction to Information Sources
- Seminars will provide first-year students with an introduction to critical evaluation of source materials. Each FYWS has a dedicated research librarian who will work with faculty to meet their particular needs in addressing information literacy. Course goals in relation to information sources may be satisfied by one of several models including but not limited to: a session with a librarian during class time; an additional class session, outside scheduled class time; an exercise designed and led by the professor.
Introduction to Academic Integrity
- Seminars will introduce first-year students to Bowdoin’s Academic Honor and Social Code. Faculty will work to demonstrate ethical practices within the discipline, ranging from citation of sources and attribution of ideas and theories to modes of ethical collaboration.